What is the tone on railroad radios used when the train calls the dispatcher?
What is the tone on railroad radios used for when the train calls the dispatcher? Also are train crews required to use radio pro-words (over,out, roger) when transmitting? Please let me know thank you.
They are the same tones you’d hear on a touch tone phone.We use different keypad numbers for different dispatchers.When you tone a dispatcher it lights up a light on his radio control box so he knows someone wants to talk to him.Some dispatchers might have 20 or 30 radio towers they use so they can’t monitor them all at the same time.His control box is a touch screen.When we tone him up all he has to do is touch the screen to activate the radio the tone was received on. And yes the FRA says we have to use certain radio procedures.We are always supposed to start a radio transmission with our train id such as the UP 4628 West.We don’t use roger and wilco and things like that but they do want to hear over and out used.
They are the same tones you’d hear on a touch tone phone.We use different keypad numbers for different dispatchers.When you tone a dispatcher it lights up a light on his radio control box so he knows someone wants to talk to him.Some dispatchers might have 20 or 30 radio towers they use so they can’t monitor them all at the same time.His control box is a touch screen.When we tone him up all he has to do is touch the screen to activate the radio the tone was received on. And yes the FRA says we have to use certain radio procedures.We are always supposed to start a radio transmission with our train id such as the UP 4628 West.We don’t use roger and wilco and things like that but they do want to hear over and out used.
References :
UPRR engineer
Dispatchers dont leave every repeater on their radio system on, there would be too much radio chatter so there is a system that you ring up and it activates the nearest radio repeater and lights an indicator on the dispatchers console that someone is trying to call them.
We have an entire section of our rule book dedicated to radio rules, what we can say, what we can’t say and how we are required to say it. Most maritime and air traffic conversations begin with the caller stating the ID of the station they want to call followed by their own ID, RR radio rules are just opposite, we identify ourselves first and then state the station or mobile radio we are trying to contact.
Radio procedure is one of the easiest efficiency tests our trainmasters can do so we are monitored very closely on that, at least where I work.
We can get a test failure and be subject to disciplone for stating an engine number but forgetting to give the initials first, they can get verrrrry picky if they wish to fail someone.
References :
RR engineer